Starting up the new year - and some movie reviews!

So, I've been back at work for a week now ... John started classes on Monday ... and we're picking up our normal lives again after a perfectly wonderful break!

Seriously, I think this was the best vacation I've ever had.  We all (John, Honey, and I) went to John's parents house for Christmas.  We visited family, ate amazing food, visited Ikea, opened presents, played games, and watched the birth of a baby cow.  John's parents keep cows - and most of them were expecting babies while we were there.  One of them came right up near the house, and we were able to watch her give birth from the window - it was amazing!  Since then, they've had 12 baby cows born, and 8 more coming any day now.

We came back home the day after Christmas, and perhaps 2-3 hours after we got home a couple from church dropped their dog off at our house for us to take care of for the week.  "Ice" was a small little white terrier dog (I don't know the actual breed), and she and Honey did not immediately care for each other.  John and I spent the week just relaxing and doing things around the house, while the dogs kept each other occupied.

Honey was so stressed out - she hated having to share John and I.  She didn't mind if Ice played with her toys or went in her bed, or anything.  But if Ice got in our laps to be petted, Honey got upset and paced and whined and barked.  Thankfully though, by the time it came for Ice to go home, the two of them were getting along much better.  Of course, Honey was still over-the-moon happy when Ice went home.  She was bouncing and happy and playful and on her very best behavior!

John got a lot of really good work done on the house over the break.  He completely re-did my pantry!  and it is totally amazing! I am so loving my pantry now.  I'll have to get some pictures off my phone to put on here.  He also painted most of the garage - with a stinky acylic paint that permeated the entire house with that awful paint smell.  Still, the garage looks much better.

We also went to see both "The Hobbit" and "Les Miserables" in theaters.  They were brilliant.  Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins was spot-on.  My favorite parts of "The Hobbit"?  When Smaug destroyed the city at the beginning, and when the dwarves were showing up at Bilbo's house.  I also loved that they added scenes that were not necessarily from the book, but explained the back story.  John did some research, and apparently Peter Jackson, the director, was given access to Tolkien's writings that were never published.  My personal feeling is that Jackson and his crew have immersed themselves in Tolkien's world for almost 10 years now - I have every faith in them that if they do add something, it will be an enhancement, not a detractor from the world.

Unfortunately, "Les Miserables" did not live up to my expectations.  I've seen the stage musical twice before on stage, and have been in love with the musical since high school.  Anne Hathaway as Fantine was perfect.  She was by far the best part of that movie.  Overall, it was a good movie.  I just had two problems with it:  Hugh Jackman as Valjean, and the music.

Now, it was clear that Hugh Jackman put all he had into this role - he worked at it, and his acting was stellar.  My only complaint with his is that he doesn't have the voice to carry that role.  Valjean is the backbone of the entire musical - he has multiple solos and dramatic pieces to sing.  Honestly, I probably would have been happy if they had dubbed over Jackman's voice.  He's not a bad singer - not at all.  But he didn't have the authority in his voice to carry that particular role.  (Side note - I've heard very similar arguments about Russell Crowe, who played Javert.  Yes, you can say exactly the same thing about him - stellar acting, not as good singing voice - but this didn't bother me so much, because Javert does not sing as much as Valjean.)

My next criticism is with whoever did the soundtrack for the film.  Because that's what it is - a soundtrack.  When you see the play in person, the music is a powerful, driving force that envelopes you.  In the movie, the music is toned down to background music - an aside.  By doing they, they lost the impact that the music gave.

Anyway, it was a wonderful break, and John and I enjoyed it so very much.  We're (maybe) ready for this next semester?  We certainly jumped into it feet-first!
    

Holiday Update

It's the Thursday before Christmas ... and life has been hectic!

John's been on break from school, so he's been looking for projects to complete around the house.  Meanwhile, I'm still working and then I volunteered us to dog-sit over my vacation break, so I invited that family over for dinner tonight so that their dog can meet Honey and get used to us before actually being left here for several days.

So, John decided yesterday afternoon was the perfect time to rip out the pantry and re-do it.

I got home from work yesterday and the entire contents of my pantry were strewn all over my kitchen cabinets (John reassured me that we'd get a pizza so I didn't have to try and cook).  He'd torn out all the shelves in the pantry and did some dry-wall repair in there. 

Tip:  Did you know that Lowe's will cut your wood for you?  Seriously - John bought this long strip of wood to use for shelves in our new pantry, and Lowe's cut that long strip down to the exact sizes we needed for the shelves.  Normally it costs $0.25 per cut, but they didn't charge us for it.  So much easier than trying to do it outselves!

So ... last night we went to Lowes and wandered around a bit, then picked up our pizza.  After dinner, John started sanding the dry wall down and then painted the first coat of white in the pantry.  I started going through all the food from the pantry and getting rid of stuff that was either expired or I knew that we'd never use (most likely because we'd had it for over a year). 

Biggest surprise of the night?  Finding 10 cans of black beans - an ingredient I only use in 1 recipe that I make maybe 2-3 times a year.

Grossest surprise of the night?  Finding an unopened container of balsamic vinaigrette dressing that looked like things were growing in it.  Surprisingly, it was not past the expiration date.  We threw it out anyway.

So now John is painting a second coat in the pantry and trying to install the shelves before we have company tonight.  I'm making a lamb roast with steamed vegetables and rolls.  My guests are bringing dessert and a tiny dog that will probably get into a fight or something with Honey.

Yay!

Studying and Texting ... with the hint of baking yet to come

Yesterday was John's last day in the lab.  He starts his new lab on Monday.

Hopefully this new lab will be better than his old one.  He's still planning on going into his first lab, but he'd at least like a good lab rotation!

Meanwhile, he's been studying almost non-stop for his tests!  He had a test on Monday, and then has another one tomorrow.  I am so proud of him the way he's handling all of this.  The first few tests he took were hard for him - not necessarily because of the material (although that also is insanely difficult), but because it brought back flashes of medical school.  After his first test, we went to the park and walked for about four miles just to get away from everything so he could recover.

After Monday's test?  He felt great!  No test anxiety whatsoever!  I think he's finally put medical school behind him!

He's still enthusiastic about studying - probably because he can actually see the results of his studying while talking to classmates and taking tests.  It's gotten to the point when I have to call him to come home at night - he's so wrapped up in studying that he loses track of time!

Meanwhile ... I got a new phone!  One that finally has texting, so that John and I can keep in touch during the day.  I also have a few friends who all they do is text, so it will be nice to get back in touch with them!

I volunteered to make poundcakes for the GSO for a Bake Sale fundraiser they're doing end of November/early December.  That, plus the fact that I'm going to make poundcakes for all my co-workers and friends at church for Christmas ... I'm going to be busy baking!  Last year I found a relatively easy pound cake recipe that is utterly divine, or so everyone who has had it tells me.  Everyone who tasted it said that it was the best pound cake they'd ever had - one of my coworkers even started crying and said it was exactly like the poundcake her grandmother made when she was a little girl.

So ... my tradition (started last year!) is to make a poundcake for Christmas for gifts.  It's easy - people seem to like it - and is relatively inexpensive (although with the cost of butter and eggs ...).

I expect that by the time Christmas actually rolls around, I'm going to be so sick of poundcake!